2022 was a big year for our members–and for the Worker-driven Social Responsibility model. Momentum is growing with more and more researchers pointing to this model as a powerful tool for tying corporations to the consequences of their purchasing practices and putting workers in the lead of defending their own human rights.
Starting the Year Off Right with Worker Wins
Garment workers have been hard-hit as brands cut orders and adapted to pandemic disruptions by pushing risk down onto those who could least afford it. Decades of outsourcing and underpayment mean that suppliers have little flexibility and workers are too often just a day’s work away from missing a meal.
The #PayYourWorkers campaign has made significant progress in linking big brands to the consequences of their purchasing practices.
Big wins include:
- Salvadorean workers who sewed Grey’s Anatomy-branded scrubs winning their fight for $1 million in stolen wages and compensation.
- Thai workers won a historic win this spring when Victoria’s Secret paid $8.3 million dollars – the largest ever wage theft settlement for a single factory.
These big wins helped fuel momentum for larger demands of the #PayYourWorkers Campaign, calling on brands to sign binding agreements with workers’ unions to ensure that garment workers are never again left penniless.
Turning up the Heat for Workers’ Rights
As the weather warmed up, members took to the streets with crowds of allies.
In Florida, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers’ garnered international attention as thousands showed up to join them marching on fast-food company’s billionaire shareholder, Nelson Peltz. Wendy’s remains a holdout, with most fast food companies signing onto the Fair Food Program a decade ago.
Meanwhile, Migrant Justice’s campaign called on Ahold-Delhaize subsidiary Hannaford’s Markets to sign onto the #MilkWithDignity program. Allies from across the U.S. showed up for protests spanning nearly every store and their headquarters. In the words of one worker, “Workers and consumers are united in calling on Hannaford President Mike Vail to join Milk with Dignity and respect our human rights.”
Worker-driven Social Responsibility is Expanding
2022 saw big growth for the Worker-driven Social Responsibility model.
In Minneapolis, workers in the building trades launched the Building Dignity and Respect Campaign, bringing the WSR model to construction. In an industry where housing developers too often let layers of subcontractors distance them from responsibility for working conditions, workers are inviting them to join the program and put fair livelihoods and dignified work first.
Whether at land or at sea, the root causes of human rights abuses are often the same. This year saw leaders from the Coalition of Immokalee Workers meet with members of the International Transport Workers Federation to start looking into what it would look like to apply the Worker-driven Social Responsibility model to the fishing industry.
Workers’ Lives are Improving
Does Worker-driven Social Responsibility work? The proof is in the programs.
This year, the Milk with Dignity Program marked 5 years. The results are impressive. Their impact reporting documents substantial increases in wages, paid time off, and better housing and working conditions–a level of transparency and results lacking from corporate-driven social responsibility programs.
#WSRWorks, and the world is taking note. An in-depth series examined how workers in animal agriculture are excluded from many U.S. labor laws, yet pointed to the Worker-driven Social Responsibility model as one that is making concrete improvements “on both the business and employee side of the [farm].”
Frontline Solutions to the Biggest Issues of Our Time
By their very nature, worker-driven initiatives are responsive to the issues of their communities. As the climate crisis creates more catastrophic extremes in weather, farmworkers are often on the frontlines. From adapting new heat standards in the Fair Food Program to community relief efforts, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers is showing the importance of strong worker organizations–both for safer workplaces and more resilient communities.
Inequality is on the rise, and wage theft from working people is one of the ways that money keeps getting transferred up to those at the top. But the Building Dignity and Respect Standards Council is getting credit for their novel efforts to bring enforcement to under-regulated construction worksites.
The race to the bottom for cheaper goods too often relies on exploiting workers. Layers of subcontractors and exploitative immigration laws make workers even more vulnerable to forced labor. The Coalition of Immokalee workers supported workers through one of the biggest labor trafficking busts involving guest workers, making clear how big the need is for more worker-driven programs across agriculture.
New Health and Safety Accord Sets the Tone for 2023
After years of campaigning, in December workers’ unions and fashion brands announced a new legally-binding, enforceable health and safety agreement for garment workers in Pakistan. This new agreement represents a large-scale expansion of the Bangladesh Accord, originally signed after the horrendous industrial disaster at Rana Plaza in 2013. The Accord was one of the earliest Worker-driven Social Responsibility programs, pairing binding agreements between brands and worker organizations with the financial capacity for enforcement.
This new Accord will provide essential protections for millions of workers in the garment and textile industries–representing a significant expansion of the Worker-driven Social Responsibility model and a tremendous step forward for workers’ health, safety, and dignity at work.
The historic expansion of the International Accord sets the tone for what we want to see in 2023: more rights, more dignity, and more respect for working people around the world–and binding, enforceable agreements to protect those rights.